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An endorsement from Premier Dalton McGuinty's Toronto-area Liberal MPPs may be the "kiss of death" for George Smitherman.

Postcards featuring past and present Liberal MPPs, MPs and even former NDP premier-turned Liberal MP Bob Rae endorsing Smitherman to be Toronto's next mayor are turning up in mailboxes this week.

But Smitherman's mayoralty foes are betting the blatant show of Liberal support behind their former colleague won't turn into votes and serve as an ugly reminder.

Adrienne Batra, spokesman for the Rob Ford campaign, criticized McGuinty and the Liberal caucus for jumping into the race but welcomed the message it sends to voters.

"This could potentially be the kiss of death for the Smitherman campaign," Batra told the Sun on Monday. "Smitherman and McGuinty were the architects of Mayor (David) Miller receiving more taxing authority from the provincial government," she said. "They have delivered Toronto with the land transfer tax, vehicle registration tax, bag tax, HST and the recent tax grab in the form of an eco-fee."

Rocco Rossi blasted Queen's Park for diving into Hogtown's race.

"The bottom line is Torontonians don't want someone who is going to be McGuinty's guy or Hudak's guy, they want someone who is going to be their guy," Rossi said. "They want a guard dog, not a lap dog."

Sarah Thomson said the endorsements reaffirm the idea Smitherman wouldn't be able to rebuild Toronto's relationship with the federal Conservatives.

"Politicians are in the business of keeping each other in office for as long as possible and now we are seeing more of the same from the former health minister," Thomson charged. "It's fine that these legislators support him but I want to be sure that everyone is aware that these endorsements are from the same people who brought the people of Ontario the largest deficit in its history, not to mention the wasted money on e-Health for which (Smitherman) was personally responsible."

The Smitherman campaign shot back at criticism saying the postcard simply features "friends that are supporting George" who are politicians who represent the Toronto area and happen to be mostly Liberal.

"George is very proud of the record he has at Queen's Park," said campaign spokesman Erika Mozes. "This is not about Queen's Park ... these are folks George has been working with for a long time."

The fact the politicians in the ad are mostly Liberals has more to do with who currently represents the Toronto area, she said.

Mozes said Ford is so focused on Smitherman's record at Queen's Park because he doesn't want to talk about his own record at City Hall.

NDP leader Andrea Horwath said while endorsements aren't unusual, she's puzzled how it will help Smitherman.

"You've got to be careful what you wish for," she said. "(Smitherman) is risking having to carry the baggage of the government on his campaign."

While Premier Dalton McGuinty did comment on Ford's comments about immigration last week, his office stressed Monday he's not endorsing Smitherman or anyone else.